Seattle Times: Art of baseball: Radio deities who call the shot

[bigtalkradiofan]

I thought this was a pretty good newspaper article on baseball & radio:http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/mariners/2003038149_art04.htmlMonday, June 5, 2006 - Page updated at 07:59 PMArt of baseball: Radio deities who call the shotsBy Larry StoneSeattle Times staff reporter

"There's never been a greater marriage than radio and baseball," Brennaman said.Melded, it creates what broadcasting historian Curt Smith calls "the hypnotic tapestry of radio on the air," what Bob Costas calls "the soundtrack of your summer" — all played out, as former baseball commissioner Bart Giamatti put it so memorably, "in the enclosed green fields of the mind.""It's where the creativity is," said longtime Mariners voice Dave Niehaus. "It's where you really have to be master of your craft. You have to be really good to have somebody in the palm of your hands."

And the great ones? They become icons of their cities, the voice of a generation (or generations, because as the legendary Bob Wolff, longtime voice of the Washington Senators, points out, "A good radio announcer lasts forever; they have one great trait: They wear well.")No one is more redolent of Chicago than Harry Caray, of St. Louis than Jack Buck, of Los Angeles than Vin Scully, of Detroit than Ernie Harwell.

Scully and other local legends are developing a new cult following on XM Radio, which offers home broadcasts from around the majors each night. In a survey of new subscribers last year, 25 percent of respondents cited baseball as the impetus for their subscription."That's a remarkable testament to the power of baseball on radio," said David Butler, director of corporate affairs for XM.Butler said he hears constantly from fans delighted to be introduced to the likes of Niehaus, Milwaukee's Bob Uecker, San Diego's Jerry Coleman and Kansas City's Danny Matthews — but no one is mentioned more frequently, and reverently, than Scully.

[Click link above for the complete newspaper article.]

 

[bigtalkradiofan]

WI State Journal: They Make These Calls

WI State Journal: They Make These Calls - Ran in Sunday's WSJ-Sports:http://www.madison.com/archives/read.php?ref=/wsj/2006/06/11/0606100246.phpThey Make These CallsWisconsin State Journal :: SPORTS :: F4Sunday, June 11, 2006State Journal wire services

Here's a look at the current big league announcers and the calls they've made famous:

[Click link above for the complete newspaper article.]